Manchester United's Anderson is a driven man

ANDERSON has vowed to put his Manchester United career back on track after a nightmare year.

Anderson has vowed to put his Manchester United career back on track []

Brazilian midfielder Anderson was axed by Sir Alex Ferguson after the first leg of the Carling Cup semi-final against Manchester City in January and then, on his recall a month later, saw his season come to a premature end when he damaged cruciate ligaments against West Ham.

Earlier this month he was lucky to survive serious injury when he had to be dragged unconscious from the blazing wreckage of his high-powered Audi R8 in the early hours of the morning in Portugal, after allegedly spending the previous evening in a nightclub.

The accident raised fresh question marks about Anderson’s professional focus following criticism from fans that he had not made the expected progress following his £17m move from Porto to Old Trafford three years ago.

But Anderson, 22, is determined to put last season behind him and prove he can nail down a regular place in United’s midfield, despite fierce competition from Ryan Giggs, Darren Fletcher, Paul Scholes, Michael Carrick and Darron Gibson.

As Anderson looked forward to making an anticipated comeback early next month, he said: “I’m so excited and happy to be back again after six months without football. It’s been good to come back to Carrington [United’s training ground] and now I just can’t wait to play again.

“I’m feeling good. I’ve been training for two weeks and I have had no problems at all with the injury. I’m running and training really hard and I hope very soon I will be able to start playing normally with the rest of the first team.”

Anderson’s determination is matched by his confidence that United can make a clean sweep of honours this season. He said: “The new season will be very difficult because a lot of teams are becoming strong. But in pre-season we have looked very strong and I think we will come again this season and we will aim to win everything.”

United’s latest arrival, Bebe, wants to emulate the success of two previous imports from Portugal, Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani.Ferguson swooped last week to sign striker Bebe without having seen him play but on the recommendation of his Portugal scout, and after taking advice from Portugal national boss Carlos Queiroz, his former right- hand man.

United are understood to have paid £7.4m to Guimaraes, who had only just signed the player themselves from Second Division Estrela de Amadora.

Bebe, who was brought up in an orphanage, admits the speed of his rise from obscurity to one of the biggest clubs in the world has taken him by surprise but he is determined to repay Ferguson’s faith by matching the exploits of Ronaldo and Nani.

Bebe said: “I only heard about United’s interest a week before I actually joined. To sign for a team as big as Manchester United is a dream come true for any player. I have always wanted to play in a foreign team like United or Chelsea.

“I feel good. It is an opportunity that has been given to me and now I have to grab it and work very hard.

“The fact that there is a big Portuguese connection at the club was a motivation for me. Ronaldo played here and became a very big player. Also Nani and Anderson came here from Portugal and I want to become a top quality player like they have.

“What are my qualities? I’m fast, I have a good shot and I score a lot of goals.”

The biggest game of Bebe’s brief professional career came in a Portuguese Cup defeat by Benfica but he insists he will be able to handle the scrutiny and pressure of being a United player.

“I’m aware of the focus on United players,” he said. “I know all big players have to play with a lot of pressure and I’m going to try to do the same.”

With Bebe being only 20, Ferguson will not have a problem including him in his first-team squad because under new rules, clubs can add as many Under-21 players as they like to the 25-man squad they have to name to the Premier League by the end of August.